focus on where you are

In reading the first few verses of Colossians 3, it is interesting to note that we are called to do a few things as a result of our position in Him.

Our position is having already been raised up with Christ. This is best symbolized with the action of baptism. We are dead to sin and alive in Christ. We have been crucified with Christ and we no longer live but Christ lives in us (Gal 2:20). Raised up with Him and seated in heavenly places, in Christ Jesus (Eph 2:6). Because of the position we have in Christ we are to respond. Because of who Christ is, because of what He has done, because He lives in us, our life should look a certain way. However, we are not to act out of guilt or conform to legalism.

First off, we are to keep seeking the things above. We are to strive to think on heavenly things. When something is lost in your home and you need it, you begin to look for it. But, how long do you look for it? I think the effort you put in to find that lost item is directly proportional to how valuable that item is to you. If you lost, let's say, a piece of paper with a recipe on it, you may look for a few minutes. Maybe you have the option of printing it out again or asking Aunt Sue to write is down one last time. In that case the lost piece of paper is not that valuable. But what if it is the day before you are to board a plane to a foreign country and your passport is nowhere to be found? How long and hard would you search? This would be one of those times that the search would go on until you found what you were looking for. When we are told to keep seeking, we are told to never give up the desperate pursuit of Him who saved us and set us free.

Secondly, we are to set our minds on the things above, not on things of this earth. My Bible has a note with another phrase, "be intent on." What are you intentional about? Do you intentional place your mind and center your thinking on heavenly things? This is talking about focusing. Sometimes it is difficult to focus on one thing for a long time. Do you remember those pictures that if you stared long enough and hard enough, there was a true picture behind what seemed like chicken scratch? I never saw the "bigger picture" with those; I could never focus long enough or hard enough. But, we are instructed that because of our position in Christ we are to think on heavenly things.

Wait a minute! We already know that we are seated in heavenly places...we read that in Ephesians 2:6 "But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love...made us alive together with Christ by grace...and raised us up with Him, and seated us in the heavenly places, in Christ Jesus." Suddenly this has new meaning.

I have always seen the instruction of "set your mind on things above" as an instruction for those of us on earth trudging through our daily lives having to remind ourselves over and over again to think about heavenly things. In my mind, this involved a great struggle to not think about what was around us day to day. But, if we are already seated in heavenly places, and Paul then tells us to think on heavenly things, that is a bit different perspective! Think about it, when someone sits down to have coffee with you and their mind is not altogether there, it can at times be a little insulting. What if Paul is trying to say, you who are seated in the heavenlies with God, with Christ, could you focus on where you are and stop thinking about where you've been? Stop daydreaming! Be present where you presently are! If I remind myself of where I am, would it be easier to think about where I am?

What a word for me in this stage of transition. I long to be back in Peru and often my thoughts drift back there instead of being here presently. But God has brought me here, to the US, to California, for at least a season. I am certain that as I process the grief of being here and not there, He is with me. Yet, on one hand He wants to say, please would you just remember you are neither here nor there, you are seated in heavenly places. You need not think on Peru or CA, you need to think on Me! On another hand, the more I remind myself that I am here, the easier it is to accept it, to think on it. Accepting my position becomes easier when I am constantly reminded of where I am.

That is enough for now. May it be easier to focus on where you are when you are reminded of where you are.